Apparently, the air between Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis and former coach Greg Schiano never quite cleared.
Revis put voice Wednesday to what seemed apparent last season, that the Bucs weren’t fully on board with their old coach and his disciplinarian ways.
“The atmosphere, I felt like, was real tense,” Revis told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Guys didn’t like coming to work. That’s one of the things you have to have, a stress-free atmosphere and environment. You’re going to get everything out of everybody if it’s stress-free and let people be who they are.
“I just didn’t feel he did a very good job of that. It was a learning experience for him as well, and hopefully, if he ever gets another stab at it, he’ll do things differently.”
Revis said one of Schiano’s biggest problems was an unwillingness to listen to suggestions from veteran players.
“There’s a difference between being a head coach and in control of the whole team and the whole organization at the time,” Revis said. “Everybody’s got their own schemes and what they bring to the table.
“I wish he would have listened to some of the players a little bit more, especially the veterans and some of the older guys. We can go down the line like Dashon Goldson, Davin Joseph, Carl Nicks, Vincent Jackson and those type of guys and listen to them. But he was the boss, and you’ve got to fall in line.”
Perhaps it’s just the fresh start, but Revis was encouraged about new boss Lovie Smith, after getting good reviews from his former Bears players Brian Urlacher and Brandon Marshall, which might overshadow any concerns about scheme.
“I love to play ball, and if we’re going to run the Cover 2 scheme, I have to master the Cover 2.” Revis said. “I feel confident in Lovie and [defensive coordinator] Leslie Frazier, too. They have a lot of experience in the league with unbelievable players. I think we have great talent. We just need the right personnel and the right coaches. . . .
“With Greg, we were just very detailed. With Lovie, he’ll give us a little more freedom to take control of the defense, of the scheme, and try to enhance certain things about the defense, whether it’s with Gerald McCoy and the defensive line or Lavonte [David] and the linebackers or Dashon and us on the back end.”
If nothing else, the immediate respect Smith has with players should help, as it’s clear they didn’t have that for Schiano.